Oh how sweet it is!

Well I did it. I caught a fish on a fly that I made myself. It really is a neat feeling to accomplish that. I finally made it out to my grandma's house on an absolutely perfect day. It was about 75 degrees with only a slight breeze. The sun was out in full force but it doesn't seem to spook large mouth like it does brown or rainbow trout. I even took my shirt off to get a nice little sun burn. Andrew was with me today and he was a little impatient but it worked out in his favor. On my first cast with my favorite homemade clauser minnow, I landed a nice little bass.

I chose to go with a minnow with green, yellow, and white buck tail with red flash. It was a size 6 hook with yellow eyes. I cast it along the dock and pulled it in rather slowly and evenly. I figured the fish would still be a little slow because the time of year. I got the strike right off the bank. It put up a bigger fight than I expected which is always a good thing, but I had no problem pulling him in. I was using a 4 weight tippet so I was a little concerned.

It was a great feeling. I then cast about 25 feet down the bank a few times and caught another. Andrew liked this one because it was "widdle" like him. He even helped me throw him back.

We walked around the pond a little bit, scaring off a couple of Canadian Geese until we got to the two pine trees that grow just feet from the water, a pretty consistently good spot. One good cast 15 feet down and 6 feet from shore and I got another strike right on the bottom. It hit hard and as it rose I saw it was a bigger fish than the other two. I took my time with it just because I had a light line on and was in no rush. Like I expected, the fight didn't last too long (the water is still very cold) I bent down and grabbed him by the jaw to bring him up. He was the biggest fish I've caught in a while out of the pond. Great fish, great fly, FANTASTIC day.

After this nice fish, Andrew was bored so we took a walk in the woods. He was thrilled. He even found a walking stick. As we walked past the dump in the back I pulled out my old plastic spring horse and big wheeler. Neither is in working shape but Andy sat on the horse while I held it and he did the same on the big wheeler. Those toys are 20 plus years old. Time flies. I pointed out the old swing set and walked him down to our old fort. It is fallen over and dilapidated but he could tell it was something out of the ordinary. It was then I started to wonder why Grandpa dumped so much stuff in the ditch in the woods instead of taking it to the curb. Andrew had fun and I had a blast with him. He may even want to do it again.

New Hobby!

It was a loooooooong winter this year. I wasn't able to fish at all since November. So.....I got restless and decided to pick up the next best thing.......fly tying! I bought a simple starter kit that included a vice clamp, couple of bobbins, an array of colored thread, a bodkin, whip finisher, hair stacker, hackle pliers, a video, and a rather large set of materials. I also bought a tool box to keep it all in. As I made a few flies and discovered flies I wanted to make and use, I needed to buy more supplies. I found out that this hobby is not a cheap one and contrary to what I thought, I'm not so sure I'll be saving money in the long run either. Oh well..........regardless, I now have a hobby.

I made an assortment of woolly buggers in black, yellow, olive, and brown. I made them in size 6 and 2. I decided that I enjoyed making these and other large flies more than I do the super small ones for obvious reasons.

I then made some Adams Flies in size 12 and 14 sizes. I'm not up to making any smaller than that just yet. It gets tricky. I really like how these flies turned out. They are aesthetically pleasing and actually look like something real. There is satisfaction in that.

I then decided that I truly needed to learn how to make some nymphs so I chose to start with the pheasant tail nymph. I made quite a few in sizes 10, 12, and 14 sizes. I think they turned out pretty good and I might even make a few in size 16-20 in the near future. I seem to lose lots of these so the more the merrier.

I also made some hare's ear nymphs in 12 and 14 sizes. These were a little trickier but turned out pretty well too. I'll make a bunch of these too.

Well after tying a bunch of nymphs I decided I needed some caddis flies. I made a bunch of these Elk Hair Caddis Flies in a couple sizes. They were tricky at first. All these flies required different techniques and tricks. This one was no exception.

Here are my favorites! Flying ants and regular ants are easy to make and look like an actual bug! What more can you ask for? These terrestrials were tied on size 12 and 14 hooks and I'm excited to use them.
I also learned how to tie streamers, spiders and stone flies. I'll blog these flies in the near future.

I've seen enough!

I've had a severe case of cabin fever this winter and because of the amount of snow we've had, I haven't been able to get outside to Grandma's much at all. I caught wind that a local state park was being stocked with trout so I made plans to check it out. I took Nick out first to stake out the lake. We bought some night crawlers and found a nice spot all by ourselves. It was a great day, about 60 degrees and over cast but we caught nothing. We only spent about 3 hours fishing but I was frustrated. Nick was crazy bored so we left to meet the girls and Andrew for dinner. On our way out we stopped by the other end of the lake where a ton of cars were parked to further investigate. We saw a guy pull out a 12 inch rainbow. I asked what he was using and he showed me a can of whole kernel corn. These farm-raised trout were used to what they were fed before they were released into Lake Isabella. How boring! These guys were all using corn and bobbers! Anyway I took notes and left.



Two days later I heard they were bringing more trout in (750 lbs) so I took Andre and Lilly down to watch them release them into the lake. I even brought corn! We casually fished from the dock for an hour before we saw the truck pull in. It was going to release the fish into a cove about 50ft by 75ft. All the way around this cove, standing shoulder to shoulder were retired, old, over-weight, bearded men. They all were loaded down with power bait and corn. Even at the end of the cove was seated four men in boats just waiting to cut off the freed fish. It was pathetic! As soon as the trout were dumped into the lake, one net full at a time, bobbers and spinners would fly in from all sides into the area the size of a hula hoop. There were multiple tangles and cussing going on, some guy was chucking corn kernels with a scoop into the water, and I was told to get Andrew away from the fisherman so there would be no accidents. Talk about grumpy old men! I saw one guy catch one of the fish (that wasn't floating upside-down or barely moving) as soon as it hit the water. He cheered and put it into his bucket. The fish was only in the lake for like 5 seconds! That's not fishing! I could have grabbed my limit of four with my bare hands and been home for lunch in 20 minutes. I was embarrassed to be there and said I have seen enough. The kids and I left before all the fish were unloaded. They enjoyed seeing the half-dead fish but were soon as bored as me.


I decided to leave Lake Isabella to the grumpy old men for now. Maybe I'll take the kids back there in the summer to fish from the docks when it gets warmer but until the bluegill, bass, and crappie start biting, I think I'll pass on the trout. The whole experience was a bit too corny for my taste.

Four Favorite Fish

Here are four of my favorite fish of my short fly fishing adventure thus far. I have only been fly fishing for a couple of years so the fish aren't exactly the biggest fish in the river but hopefully I can replace these fish with bigger ones down the road. My first one is a 19 inch rainbow trout that I caught on the Beaver head River in Montana. It came at the very end of a long no luck day. I decided to try my luck in a deep hole as I waded back to the car. I had just replaced a pink scud with a size 16 prince nymph. This chunky trout took me down stream and with the help of my little bro Alex, I was able to net him and because he was worn out, he took great pictures. This one catch changed my outlook on the whole trip. Great memory. . . .
When it comes to Cutthroats, Yellowstone has the prettiest ones. My favorite little spot to fish of all time is at the end of a 7 mile hike down into Yellowstone Canyon. Here I have spent hours amongst sulphur hot vents and rough rocks pulling in trout after trout. This particular one took a white streamer right out of the roughest of water. He was a tricky one to pull in because the water is rough and walking on the rocks is tricky. He measured 21 inches, not bad for a cutthroat. They are my favorite fish to catch I think just because of how pretty they are. I love all the color.

Alright, this next one isn't exactly a hoss but I really enjoyed working him out of his hole. It was at the end of another long unlucky day, I have a lot of these. This was to be the last stop on the float. I knew there had to be a fish down in this hole so I worked it for nearly an hour. This little 17 inch browny finally took the scud and put up a big ol' fight. My little bro was there again to do the netting and I had myself a descent brown trout.

And just as no fishing trip is complete without a handful of whitefish, neither is this blog. This guy was reeled out of a hole in the Beaver head where I was hoping to find a 20 plus inch brown. I got half of what I wanted with this guy. He measured 20.5 inches and was exciting to bring in because of lack of action that morning. I know more than once I have been saved from failure by the whitefish. Like I said in the beginning, these aren't monster fish but I have huge memories with each one. I do hope to replace them with bigger ones though sooner or later.

Not all who wander, are lost.

This is Gibbon Falls of the south eastern region of Yellowstone. With all the magnificent tourist attractions that are well-known throughout the world, many of the other mind-blowing sights inside the park fly under the radar. In any other state or region, these awesome falls would be a park by themselves. This shot captures the pine trees of the high altitude region, the rough rocky falls, fall color on the smaller shrubs, and the clear blue sky of the west. I've always said that it's hard to take a bad picture when you're in Yellowstone and this picture proves it. This is just one example of the many attributes of the park that most people have never heard of.

Many people look forward to seeing wildlife inside the park or possibly fishing along one of the numerous gorgeous river in the park but very few realize just how HUGE Yellowstone really is. There is however, a place where you are most likely to see a great majority of the wildlife you're seeking. It's the Lamar Valley. While I was here catching some beautiful Yellowstone Cutthroats, I saw many many bison, eagles, elk, wolves, and even a big ol' grizzly. Hayden Valley is also a great place, don't get me wrong. It's probably my favorite spot in the park, but if you're looking for wildlife, the Lamar Valley has what you want. The sunsets aren't bad either.

Some of the wonders don't even have a name (that I'm aware of). Simply find a pull-out, get out your camera or binoculars and walk 15 to 20 steps away from the road. The whole area of the park is breathe-taking. If you stop and look around you can find amazing sights in all directions. In the fall especially, it is easy to find colorful shots with all the yellow birch trees, red and orange shrubbery, the green of the pines, and of course the blues of the western skies. There is never a dull moment inside this unique place. All you have to do is wander to find it.

Snake River with Howard

After my spectacular trip through God's Country (Yellowstone and the Tetons), I drove the eight hours down to Salt Lake to celebrate my father-in-law's 50th birthday. It's a gorgeous drive through canyons and lakeside country. I did get stuck behind a slow moving car through a huge canyon that caused me to be late for dinner but they saved me a plateful of pork and potatoes which I relished. It was great to be able to be there with them for Howard's birthday party.

Howard and I left first thing the next morning after getting all the supplies together and loading the boat. It's about a 4-5 hour drive to the South Fork of the Snake River near Idaho Falls. This stretch of river runs through a picturesque canyon full of Bald Eagles and fish. Three years ago I had the pleasure of making this same trip with Howard and we saw not only these animals but had a close encounter with 2 bull moose. One wandered into our camp one evening and then we saw one on the river as we floated by. It was one of the neatest experiences of my life. Though we did not see any this time, we still had an extremely successful fishing trip.

We stopped at South Fork Outfitters to set up the shuttle and to purchase some flies. Howard had fished here with Karen and her boyfriend the week before and had some luck with a new imitation called a Rubber Legs. It imitates a stone fly pretty well. We were using this brown pattern and an orange pattern. The fish seemed to prefer the orange when both were offered.

We hit the water late in the afternoon so most of our time on the river was spent fishing from the boat, looking for our first campsite. Howard c aught a few whitefish but I went without the first day. We set up camp right outside an bald eagle protection area (one of many). We snapped a few pictures and enjoyed Campbell's beef stew and left over pork. It hit the spot. We warmed the stew and meat up on my Sterno stove. It worked great. We went to bed at dark and woke up early the next morning to fog and a little frost. It was also pretty darn cold! When the sun came up, we soaked it right in. It did warm up back into the 70's later that day so it was only a short-lived chill.

That day, the fishing picked up. I started out using two of the rubber legs at once but decided to save some frustration and time untangling knots by switching to just one fly. That seemed to do it for me. I caught a good number of whitefish that day. We found the best water on the river and pulled out whenever we saw the opportunity. Because of the quarter-sized blisters I obtained on my hike in Yellowstone, I found walking around in my waders a bit painful. But the success we had fishing was well worth the little bit of pain.

Early in the morning, a male bald eagle soared only 30 feet above us and cruised down the river. We saw him again the next morning. It was truly a majestic flight. We had ourselves some peanut butter and honey on multi grain with powerade for lunch in the boat. It was refreshing and the bread really filled us up. We continued fishing through the day till nearly dark when we stopped to set up camp again. It felt great to take my waders off and slip on some flip flops even though it was still pretty chilly in the evening. It didn't get as cold overnight this time but we awoke to find a raccoon had gotten our lunch and spread the garbage around. Darn; n o lunch today. We bathed in the sun when it rolled around and set off again. Today we would cover the most ground trying to get to the pull-out at a decent hour. We caught lots of whitefish again. We both caught a cutthroat a piece and Howard caught a few browns and a rainbow. He's quite the fisherman. We found a spot where Howard caught 16 whitefish and a handful of trout in 45 minutes. I caught about 15 whitefish in this spot too. Great spot! All the trout were caught in the shallows (up to a foot and a half) and not in any real features.

I really enjoy fishing from the boat while drifting. We found we were having great luck in

water about 3-4 feet deep and often in flat featureless water. It's really neat to be able to have long drifts without mending and see the fish strike from above. Using the net is fun from the boat and its convenient to have a good place to set the fish and take out the hook. It's a lot of fun. I took a lot of scenic shots from the boat that last day that included a cave, fall colors in the trees, and features of the river.

This trip was truly great. We caught a lot of fish and the camping was awesome. Fall was showing its face and the temperature was perfect. I think though that my most vivid memory has to be the eagle flying over the rive each morning. We saw so many eagles, some of which were perched right along the river. They are not only a rare sight but they are big, beautiful, and majestic. They are nothing short of perfectly graceful when they soar above. I'm truly thankful for the opportunity I have to go fishing with my father-in-law in so many neat places and look forward to the next great float.

Autumn in the Grand Tetons

I awoke again around 4:30 but there was no elk outside the car this morning. I decided to drive out to Hayden Valley and try my luck looking for wildlife. I heard the bugling all around again but I couldn't spot any bulls. I got my sleeping bag out and laid on the front of the car looking out over the valley. It was eerily quiet when all of a sudden I heard hooves pounding on the pavement behind me. I turned my head to see a giant buffalo crossing the road. I froze. I've seen first hand how these guys can move when they are surprised. He passed within 10 feet of me. He eventually moved off the road and down the sloping hillside. It was a simple reminder of just how wild the area is. Then I heard a loud HOO HOO! Across the road, in a low tree sat a large owl. It was easily the largest owl I've ever seen. Then, like it was called, a good sized coyote ran down the road, stopped, and kept on running. Yellowstone coyotes are wolf-size and dwarf coyotes around Ohio. I sat there and watched the sun come up over the valley. I then realized that a huge heard of bison were down in the valley but I couldn't see them because of the darkness. I could hear them grunting at each other in the darkness. It was another perfect morning.

I went back to the lodge for breakfast and had the buffet again. I got my money's worth and headed south toward the southern entrance. I passed a few giant elk on the way out. I snapped some photos and kept on. I eventually left Yellowstone Park just to enter Grand Teton National Park. Now Yellowstone was pretty in its own right but there wasn't as much fall color as I was expecting. The Tetons however, was magnificently vibrant and golden.

The majority of the trees inside the Tetons are birch trees and all of them were golden with color. The snow white of the trunks and the extreme yellow of the leaves contrasting against the blue sky was brilliant. I found it hard to drive at any sensible speed because I was enthralled with shooting prolific fall scenes. The Teton Mountain Range is magnificent all by itself but with all the added color, it was beyond imagination. I decided that fall was the best time of year to visit this park for sure.